Paint drum with built in agitator



Allg' 28, 1956 w. s. wooDMAN 2,760,762

PAINT DRUM WITH BUILT IN AGITATOR Filed April 12, 1954 2 sheets-sheet 1 i IH I i iii I H 4 l :l: l i Hi '5j /o i it: n; f 5'- f' i l 'iig Z5 2/ ,3 a iii' l l* ``L"" INVENTOR Gilliam 1S'. Wo admaw 2TH BY gwdg/C557 ATTORNEY Aug. 28, 1956 w. s. wooDMAN PAINT DRUM WITH Bum 1N AGITAToR 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April l2, 1954 ullfllllrlllln rllllllflliii11111111111111111111111111111 R O T N E V m Z0 T'Vlliam 4S'. Woodman 7' ATTORNEYS United States Patent C) PAINT DRUM 1WITH BUILT IN AGITATOR William S. Woodman, Cleveland, Ohio Application April 12, 1954, Serial No. 422,293

4 Claims. (Cl. 259-107) This invention relates to paint drums with built in agitators such as disclosed in my Patent No. 2,493,210, granted January 3, 1950, andmore particularly to the mounting of the agitator in the drum. lt is common practice to provide paint drums with an agitator in the form of a rotatable unit comprising a rotary impeller and an axial drive shaft that is accessible through a central opening in the top of the drum, suitable bearings for the agitator being provided on the top and bottom heads of the drum. In the manufacture of such drums it is the usual practice to assemble the agitator within the drum at the time the top and bottom heads are joined to the cylindrical body of the drum.

in order to simplify the assembly of the agitator within the drum when the heads are applied to the drum body, the drum of the present invention has an imperforate sheet metal bottom head upon which a rotary impeller is permanently mounted prior to the assembly of the heads on the drum body. The impeller has a central coupling member into which the lower end of an axially disposed driving shaft may be readily inserted, the shaft and coupling member being formed to provide a driving connection between them upon assembly. The impeller is rotatably mounted and permanently retained on a bearing member attached to the bottom head that is provided with a cylindrical upright tubular 'bearing p0rtion upon which the central portion of the impeller tits, the impeller being permanently retained on the bearing member by an outturned llange at the top of the tubular bearing portion. The bearing member has a base ange that rests on the bottom head of the drum and that is secured thereto. The base ange of the bearing member may be secured to the sheet metal head centrally thereof by forming a depression in the centerl of the head to receive the base of thel liange of the bearing member and then upsetting the depressed portion to lock the marginal edge of the base flange to the head, or the base portion of the bearing member may be spot welded to the sheet metal head'.`

, The impeller is preferably permanently attached to the bearing member prior to the assembly of the drum heads on the drum body by ilanging the tubular bearing member after the impeller is placed thereon. ABy

permanently mounting the impeller on the drum heads' prior to they attachment of the. heads to the drum body, the assembly of the agitator within the drum body is greatly simplied, since it is only necessary to engage the drive shaft with the impeller and 4with the bearing of the top head when the heads are assembled on the drum body.

Objects of the invention are to provide a rigid and permanent mounting for the impeller on an imperforate sheet metal bottom head in such manner as to avoid weakening of the head or the development of leaks in the head and to provide a mounting for the impeller by which 4it may be permanently attached to the bottom head prior to attachment of the bottom head to the drum body so as to simplify the assembling operation.

Patented Aug. 28, 1956 Reference should be hadto the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a drum withl the bottom portion broken away to show the agitator therein;

Figs. 2, 3 and 4 illustrate a method of joining the impeller bearing member to the sheet metal bottom head, Fig. 2 showing the depression for receiving the bearing member formed in the head, Fig. 3 showing the bearingl member secured inthe depression by the inwardly upset peripheral wall of the depression and Fig. 4 showing the impeller mounted on the bearing member and permanently retained thereon;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the impeller;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary plan View on an enlarged scale of the central portion of the impeller;

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary vertical section through th bottom portion Iof the drum showing a modified form of impeller mounting;

Fig. S is a fragmentary plan view of the central portion of the bottom head with the impeller mounted thereon; and

Fig. 9 is a section taken on the line indicated at 9-9` in Fig. 8.

ln the accompanying drawings the invention is shown applied to a sheet metal paint drum having a cylindrical wall or body 1 and top and bottom heads 2 and 3. As shown in Figs. l to 4, the bottom head 3 has a central circular well 4 formed at the center thereof, the well 4 having a at bottom 5 and a peripheral wall 6 Withinv which a bearing member 7 ts. The bearing member 7 has a central upright tubular bearing portion 8 and a.

circular base flange 9 that rests on the bottom 5 and fits within the peripheral wall 6. As shown in Fig. 3, the peripheral wall 6 of the well or depression is upset radially inwardly to overlie the margin of the iiange 9 to permanently secure the bearing. member 7 to the head 3. The iange 9 has a raised portion 10 inwardly ot' its margin that provides an annular ilat supporting face 11 surrounding the tubular bearing portion 8 of the bearing member.

The bearing member 7 supports an impeller 12- of the type shown in my patent above referred to. The impeller 12 may be formed of sheet. metal having a flat central portion 13 that rests On thev annular shoulder 11 and diametrically opposite wings 14- which are reversely inclined and which have bottom edges 15 that are parallel to the bottom head 3 and closely adjacent thereto. They central portion 13 of the impeller has an opening to receive the tubular bearing portion 8 and around this opening there is an upwardly projecting bearing ange 16 that fits on the bearing portiony 8. The upper end of the bearing portion 8 has an outturned flangey 17 that overlies the bearing ange 16 of the impeller to retain the impeller on the bearing member. The flange 17' is formed after the impeller is placed on the bearing member and serves to permanently retain the impeller on the bearing member.

A coupling member 18 is attached to the impeller 12 and this coupling member is of inverted U-shape, having spaced legs 19 that are attached to the portion 13' of the impeller on oppositey sides of the bearing flange 16 and outwardly of the` supporting shoulder 1l ot the bearing member. The legs 19 have tongues 20 at their lower ends which extend through slots in the impeller and that are bent over against the bottom of the impeller to secure the coupling member to the impeller. The upper ends of the legs 19 are connected by a top portion 21 that overlies the central bearing and that has a shaft receiving opening 22 that is in axial alinement with the tubular portion 8 of the bearing member 7. The top portion 21 is provided at one side of the opening 22 with an upwardly oiset portion 23 and on the opposite side of the opening 22 with a depressed portion 24 to facilitate the entry of a hooked end 25 of an axial drive shaft 26 that has driving engagement with one of the legs 19 of the coupling member. The shaft 26 extends from the impeller 12 to a bearing 27 secured to the top head 2 and the upper end of the drive shaft is accessible through an opening in the top head L. for attachment to a handcrank 28 by means of which a turning movement may be imparted to the impeller.

The bearing member 7 may be attached to the bottom head 3 and the impeller 12 permanently mounted on the bearing member 7 before the bottom head 3 is a@ tached to the body 1. Also, the bearing member 27 may be attached to the top head 2 prior to the joining of the head 2 to the body of the drum, so that at the time the heads 2 and 3 are attached to the body 1 of the drum it is only necessary to insert the hooked end o the shaft 26 in the coupling member attachedto the impelier 12 when the head 3 is applied to one end of the drum body, and to insert the opposite end of the shaft into the bearing member 27 when the opposite head is applied to the drum body, so that the time required for the assembly of the top and bottom heads on the drum body is not materially increased by the assembly of the agitator parts.

In Figs. 7, 8 and 9 a modied form of impeller mounting -is shown in which the bearing member has a base flange 9a that is attached to the top face of a flat bottom head 3a. The base flange 9a has a raised central portion 10a forming an impeller supporting shoulder, an upright tubular bearing portion 8a and a retaining ange 17a corresponding to the bearing portion and retaining ange of the modification rst described. The impeller shown in Figs. 7, 8 and 9 is substantially the same as the impeller illustrated in Figs. 1 to 6 and the parts thereof are -indicated by the same reference numerals as in Figs. 1 to 6.

As shown in Fig. 8, the circular base flange 9a which rests upon the flat bottom head 3a is of a diameter greater than the width of the central portion 13 of the impeller, so that marginal segments of the base ange project beyond each side edge of the impeller in all angular positions of the impeller.

The flange 9a is permanently attached to the top face of the head 3a by suitable means such as arc, gas or spot welding. As herein shown circumferentially spaced spot welds are provided adjacent the margin of the flange. Each spot weld 30 is in a marginal portion of the flange 9a that is disposed radially outwardly of a side edge of the impeller in one position of the impeller so that the bearing member may be attached to the head 3 after the impeller has been secured to the bearing member by anging the tubular portion 8a, the spot welds 30 being formed successively with the impeller in different angular positions, the spot welds being preferably uniformly spaced throughout the circumference of the flange.

It is to be understood that in accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, variations and modifications of the specific devices herein shown and described may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. A paint drum having a' cylindrical body, an imperforate sheet metal bottom head attached to the lower end of said body, and an agitator unit attached to said head and comprising a sheet metal bearing member having an upright tubular bearing portion, a base flange surrounding said bearing portion and an outwardly projecting retaining flange at the top of said tubular portion, said base flange being attached to said head centrally thereof, said base flange having a ilat peripheral portion for engagement with said head and a at raised portion forming an annular shoulder around said tubular bearing portion, an impeller formed of sheet metal and having a central portion provided with a central opening to receive said tubular portion of the bearing member and a tlat bottom face resting on said annular shoulder, said impeller being permanently retained on said bearing member by said retaining flange, a drive shaft receiving coupling member attached to said impeller and overlying said tubular bearing portion.

2. A paint drum such as defined in claim 1 in which the base flange of the bearing member is circular and of a diameter such that a marginal portion thereof extends radially outwardly beyond a side edge of the central portion `of said impeller in any position of said impeller, said flange being welded to said head at points adjacent its margin that are disposed outwardly of said side edge of the impeller in certain positions of the impeller.

3. A paint drum such as dened in claim l in which the bottom head of the drum has a central depression with a peripheral wall within which the base ange of the bearing member fits, said peripheral wall being upset inwardly over the margin of said base ange to secure said bearing member to said head.

4. A paint drum having an imperforate sheet metal bottom head, a sheet metal bearing member having an upright tubular bearing portion, a circular base flange surrounding said bearing portion and secured to said head and an outturned retaining ange at the top of said tubular portion, said base ange having a flat marginal portion engaging said head and a raised portion forming a at annular supporting shoulder surrounding said bearing portion, an impeller formed of sheet metal and having a fiat central portion provided with an opening to receive said tubular portion of the bearing member and a at bottom face resting on said annular shoulder, said impeller having a bearing ange around said opening and rotatably tting on said tubular bearing member between said shoulder and said retaining flange, and a coupling member of inverted U shape having a top portion spaced upwardly from and overlying said bearing portion and legs extending downwardly from opposite ends of said top portion and attached to said impeller on opposite sides of its opening and outwardly of said shoulders, the top portion of said coupling member having a shaft receiving opening in axial alinement with said bearing portion.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 583,572 Gordon June 1, 1897 1,279,515 Coleman Sept. 24, 1918 2,318,477 Firth May 4, 1943 2,493,210 Woodman Ian. 3, 1950 2,646,974 Read July 28, 1953 2,657,912 Liebman et al. Nov. 3, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 622,115 Great Britain Apr. 27, 1949 

